This week we entered our newly discovered species into The Battle of Evolution. It was a mighty struggle for survival which ended in extinction for many. The environmental factors we had to face were harsh:

Ice Ages wiped out thin, hairless creatures.

Global Warming was a nightmare for our furry, bulky species.

Dangerous Predators were a real threat for those with short legs (although stripes and spots came in handy for camouflage!)

Tall Plants growing in the area provided a great food supply – but only for those that could reach them.

Pity help you if your species were dwindling when the Meteor struck – there really was no escape from that!

In the end, only the fittest survived:

Their species were diverse enough to survive and thrive in their ever-changing environment.

It has been a fun and fascinating way to discover how species have evolved over time and really makes us appreciate all the amazing creatures we share Planet Earth with. What a Wonderful World!

Tomorrow is ‘Meet the Teacher’ day. We are very excited about meeting her, him or even them!

From the Blog Post Box:

I hope my new teacher…

…likes me and cares for me and everyone else.   Katya

…is awesome.    Jordan

…is kind and explains things well.             Michelle

…is unique, friendly, fair and funny.        Gary

…understands my writing because it can be hard to read. I hope he/she is very funny.    Emma

…is kind, caring and fun like Mrs Mackenzie and Mrs McClafferty.            Robyn (Thank you Robyn.)

This week we completed our latest Home Team Challenge where we had to design a ‘healthy’ town. We had to consider sports and fitness activities we would like to offer as well as think about the type of shops and restaurants we would include in our town. We also developed healthy ways of travelling between the various areas such as cycle tracks, scooter trails etc.

It was a tight competition, but in the end both Healthy High and Sportsville were honoured with the ‘Healthy Town’ award.

We all enjoyed a sunny afternoon at this year’s Sports Day which was captured on camera by our photographer – thanks Jamie!

From the Blog Post Box:

Well done to….

Lewis for doing well in swimming.       Cameron

Skye for cracking her time in Maths.               Fiona

Ailsa for studying hard for her exams.                       Emma

Archie for winning a medal.      Callum

Murray for coming in 1^st in the lap race.       Archie

Tobin for coming 3^rd in the lap race and overall winner in P5.    Murray

Jake for getting a haircut.           Gary

Casey for her lovely Home Learning.  Katya

Pupil of the Week: Colin

This week we have a visitor in our class. His name is Alistair and he’s a pupil at Linlithgow Academy. Alistair is visiting Balbardie for his Work Experience as he is considering a career in teaching. This made us think about the type of work we might like to do in the future. Stacey thinks she might be a vet, Greig would like to be a mechanic, Katya is interested in being a Youtuber while Katie would love to be a hairdresser. We all look forward to visiting the wonderful café that Michelle and Darja plan to open!

Whatever the future holds for us we know that being confident readers will help us on our journey. We have been encouraging our classmates to read as much as they can by conducting Rave Reviews on books we have enjoyed. We then put these books into a Book Share so that they can be enjoyed by everyone. So far it’s proving very successful!

From the Blog Post Box:

A book that I recently enjoyed is…

…Captain Underpants because it is so humorous and quite short.              Archie

…Diary of a Wimpy Kid because it is so funny and I like the author.        Kamron

…Dork Diaries – Party Time by Rachel Renee Russell because it has interesting pictures and is written like a diary.         Michelle

…The Last Wolf because it is full of action.         Jamie

…What’s for Dinner, Mr Gum? because it is funny and you get right into it.        Casey

Pupil of the Week: Jamie

This week we have been exploring the scientific theory of how life on Earth began:

• It all began with The Big Bang!
• Earth was a lifeless ball of lava.
• Over billions of years the lava cooled and water formed on Earth.
• The first cells formed in tidal pools – life on Earth had begun!
• These living cells created oxygen.
• Multi-cell creatures developed, first in the sea, then moving onto land.
• Life on Earth has evolved to include so many species – including us!

In RME we learned about the Christian creation story. We used a collage effect to create dioramas depicting the seven days in the story.

We found it very interesting to see that the sequence of events between the scientific theory and the Christian creation story were very similar.

From the Blog Post Box:

I’m getting better at…

…running because I have been practising.            Katie

…eating fruit.     Mark

…shooting goals in hockey.         Kamron

…doing more active activities at home and less inactive things.                   Michelle

…using my Maths Journal to master the 7 times table.    Tobin

…my golf. I can hit 150 yards with my 7 iron. My golf teacher, Lewis, said ‘WOW!’             Archie

Pupil of the Week: Katya

Celebrating Success Awards:

Headteacher Award – Lewis

High Standard of Work – Darja

School Values – Fiona

Effort and Improvement – Steven

As part of our Home Learning, we are creating personal projects on subjects of our choice. We are currently at the research stage, gathering resources such as books and websites.

While examining a variety of non-fiction books we noticed that many of them used ‘Did You Know?’ boxes to catch the reader’s attention and share interesting snippets of information.

Here are a few ‘Did You Know?’ facts that we may use in our projects:

This week we were sharing our ideas and opinions on how life on Earth began. We had a fascinating discussion where some people shared their religious beliefs, others shared knowledge they had gained from books and the internet and some used their imaginations as they considered how life on Earth may have begun. It was wonderful to hear everybody’s ideas and we all met our Success Criteria by treating the views and opinions of others with respect.

We’re looking forward to exploring this fascinating topic further!

From the Blog Post Box:

                              impressed me this week by……………

Katie impressed me this week by doing so well in Reading Routes.             Fiona

My sister impressed me this week by doing well in her exam.  Michelle

My sister impressed me this week by coping well with her braces.    Lewis

Skye impressed me this week by never giving up and being a great team member in PE. Emma

Maisie and Tamsin impressed me with their amazing Tadpole Rag. Tobin

My brother impressed me at the Tadpole Rag. Go Shaun!        Steven

Pupil of the Week: Aidan

This week, in Maths and Numeracy, we have been learning more about fractions. We played a game where we had to find a partner with an equivalent fraction. It was quite tricky but lots of fun. We also put our division skills into practice when we learned to simplify fractions.

In Health and Wellbeing we learned about the importance of having a good breakfast to set you up for the day. Many of us were able to come up with ways to upgrade our breakfasts. Mrs Mackenzie is going to add a piece of fruit to help her with her Aim for 5 target.

In ‘What a Wonderful World’ we examined the lifecycle of a frog. We worked in groups, each member taking responsibility for describing a particular part of the cycle. At the end of the lesson we joined all our groups together to demonstrate how the lifecycle continues.

From the Blog Post Box:

This week I learned…

…that a Komodo dragon’s spit contains more than 50 types of bacteria.                                Casey

…that a Brachiosaurus would eat the weight of 2 cars a day.                       Harry

…that frogs lay 3000 eggs but only around 5 survive and grow into adult frogs – that fraction is 5/3000.                 Gabriel

(Well done Gabriel for linking your learning. Could you simplify that fraction?)

…to simplify fractions, to dive properly and to try new foods.      Noah

…that jellyfish have no brains or hearts – only a nervous system.                              Fiona

Pupil of the Week: Jordan

We began our new focus for Maths and Numeracy this week – fractions. We can identify fractions of a shape as well as fractions of a group. We understand and can use the terms numerator and denominator.

Our new focus for Health and Wellbeing is Healthy Lifestyles. We created mind maps to share our previous knowledge. We look forward to learning more about this important subject and understand that, at our age, we are becoming more responsible for keeping healthy.

In Reading we will be focusing on non-fiction text, gathering information from a variety of sources to build a project on a subject of personal interest to us. We will also keep a log of all our reading experiences and have opportunities to share them with our classmates.

‘What a Wonderful World’ is the title for our new Context for Learning. This week we discovered some amazing new species: velocipigs, catiphants, smilions and bargontions to name a few. These new species will all enter the Battle of Evolution. Stay posted to find out if they survive or face extinction!

From the Blog Post Box:

My target for this term is…

…to climb up the reading ruler.                  Jordan

…to bring in my glasses every day.          Gary

…get more medals and trophies in archery. At the start of the Easter holiday I got bronze, at the end I got gold!                 Gabriel

…master my times tables.                            Steven

…get into the Golden Club before the end of May.            Archie

…go on my bike more.                   Aidan

…to climb up the punctuation pyramid.                 Kamron

Our Whole Class target is to focus fully on our learning and make our final term of P5 fantastic!

This week we completed our class talks where we had to argue the case for the Victorian invention we considered to be the most important. We rounded off this part of our context for learning with a Home Team Challenge. Working as a team, we had to design an invention, advertise our product and present a pitch to the Dragons’ Den.

We came up with some very interesting ideas:

The Marvellous Messis were the overall winners of the challenge, gaining the highest score with their excellent team work.

The Brilliant Brains were the winners of the Best Invention, receiving the largest investment from the Dragons for their Baby Care product.

The Demolishing Stars won the award for Best Business Brains by successfully predicting the success level of each invention and making sensible investments.

Wouldn’t it be great if a pupil, 100 years from now, presents a class talk on one of these wonderful inventions?!

From the Blog Post Box:

This term was                                     because………………………..

epic                        because I liked the Victorian tea party.                   Callum

exciting                                because we went to New Lanark.             Lewis

excellent              because we had amazing class talks and I loved our Dragons’ Den.          Jack

‘fantabulous’    because of our Victorian topic. I really love learning about the past and I enjoyed hearing all the class talks.     Lauryn

epic        because I have the best teachers in the world – Mrs Mackenzie, Mrs McClafferty and Miss McClements. I’m so sad that Miss McClements is leaving.                Emma

Pupil of the Week: Jamie

Here are a few of the rules we had to remember for our Tea Party.

1. Before eating, spread your napkin out in your lap.
2. If something is passed to you that you do not want to eat, say, “No. thank you.”
3. Sit up straight, not too close or too far away from the table
4. Eat and drink slowly and never fill your mouth very full.
5. Close your mouth when chewing and do not talk when your mouth is full.
6. Wipe your fingers on your napkin rather than the tablecloth or your clothes.
7. Make small talk to the people beside you. Do not talk to someone across the table.

How do you think we did?

Pupil of the Week: Jack

From the Blog Post Box:

Victorian ladies and gentlemen enjoyed having tea parties in their free time. What do the ladies and gentlemen of P5b enjoy doing?

I enjoy playing with my best friend Jack on his crash mat and trampoline. We do fun tricks.            Murray

I enjoy playing Minecraft on my Xbox and drawing cute My Little Pony pictures. I like watching Anime like Hunter X Hunter and Fairy Tale. I also like learning to cook.               Stacey

I enjoy practising my gymnastics because I have a competition called the North West on April 9^th.                    Darja

I enjoy going to Judo because I go with my cousin. We learn new moves and play games.                        Gary

We had a great time at New Lanark. I liked…

 …the Annie McLeod ride because it told us all about her life and what her job was like.             Noah

…the Harmony video because it was as if she really was from the future and now I know even more about Robert Owen and the mills.         Gabriel

…the Annie McLeod experience because of the holograms like the silent monitor. I liked learning about water power.         Robyn

…the Annie McLeod ride because the story was great and the holograms were amazing. I also liked the amazing scenery because there is a stunning waterfall and the woodland is beautiful.     Fiona

..the amazing site of New Lanark. The schoolroom was also fantastic. I loved doing drill!           Skye

…the schoolroom because I enjoyed Mr Smart and Mr Hardacre’s art lesson.          Michelle

Pupil of the Week: Harry

Internet Safety
This week we started a new project in HWB about internet safety. We watched a video which taught us about online safety and what can happen if we do not use the internet safely.

We learned that….

-we should never give away personal information on the internet to people we do not know.

-if someone asks to meet up with us we should tell an adult.

-we should limit our use of the internet because there are lots of other fun things that we can also do with our time.

-we should never send any pictures of ourselves to anyone who we do not know.

-we should keep our passwords private and only share them with a trusted adult if we think we might forget them.

-we all really enjoy using the internet to play games and for research but it is important that we know the warning signs that tell us when we might be getting into an unsafe situation.

P.E
In outdoor hockey this week we were learning how to tackle. We learned that there are two types of tackles in hockey-the jab tackle and the block tackle. We now know that one of the most important rules to follow when you are tackling is to make sure that your hockey stick does not come into contact with the other person’s hockey stick. This was really tricky!

From the Blog Post Box:

I aim to improve my ………………. by………………………………… .

reading                                by putting expression in my voice.            Robyn

handwriting                       by practising it in my Writing and Journey Jotters.            Gabriel

swimming                           by being more focussed.                               Cameron

decimals                              by practising at home.                   Michelle

4 times table                      by practising with my mum.                        Katya

Pupil of the Week: Michelle

LAC

This week we started preparing for our trip to New Lanark. We learned about Robert Owen and what he did during his time at the New Lanark Mills. We learned that he was a social reformer who changed the working conditions for people in the mills. He gave children the opportunity to go to school and he reduced the length of the working day. We discussed how to write down information into our own words and we used this skill to create a poster about Robert Owen.

Health and Wellbeing

We did outdoor hockey this week and we were focusing on our passing and shooting skills. We played a mini tournament at the end of the lesson and we were all very competitive!

We continued learning about how to deal with problems in the playground. This week we look at what to do when someone is being excluded. We used drama to act out different scenarios and we discussed if the group had chosen to respond in a weak, cool or aggressive way. We learned that sometimes the manner in which we say things can make a big difference to the outcome of the situation. We realise that if we ask someone nicely and politely if we can join in with a game then they are more likely to say yes, compared to asking them in an angry manner.

Maths

In maths the Pentagons and Squares continued their work on decimals. We were learning how to add and subtract decimals. We used the column method to work out these sums. The Triangles continued their work on division and learned how to divide by 5. We all practiced our times tables and we started to learn the 7 times table. We found out that we already knew some of the 7 times tables as we know that 5 x 7 is the same as 7 x 5 and we know that 7 x 2 is the same as 2 x 7.

By P5b and Miss McClements

From the Blog Post Box:

This week I want to say…

…..thank you to Callum for bringing me up when I’m down.       Jamie

……thank you for giving me the privilege of learning.       Casey

……thank you to Miss Elliot for letting us go to the netball tournament.     Aidan

……thank you to Harry for always being cheerful.    Jack

…..thank you to Luca for being my friend.   Jordan

Pupil of the week: Luca

We have enjoyed learning more about dinosaurs this week! Here are some interesting facts we have learned so far:

– Dinosaurs that eat meat are called carnivores

– Dinosaurs that eat plants are called herbivores

– Dinosaurs that eat both plants and meat are called omnivores

– Some dinosaurs can fly and have wings as long as 11 metres!

– Some dinosaurs can swim

– A T-Rex has very sharp teeth to eat meat with!

– A Brachiosaurus has a long neck as it is a herbivore and it uses its long neck to reach the leaves at the top of tall trees

– Some dinosaurs have spikes on their backs and tails to use to protect themselves if another dinosaur attacks them

– Dinosaurs are now extinct (thankfully!). That means they have died out a no longer exist.

We hoped you have learned something new from our blog this week!

Have a nice weekend!

P1a

LAC-This week we learned about where the Victorian children went on holiday. We found out that a lot of the Victorians went to the seaside by train and there were so many people at the beach you could barely move!

Literacy-We used the information we learned about the Victorian holidays to write a postcard. We pretended that we were a Victorian child writing to someone about a holiday at the seaside. Part of our success criteria was to include adjectives to describe the holiday. We also used our knowledge to draw a picture on our postcard to show what the seaside would have looked like in the Victorian era.

Maths-This week in maths the whole class learned about decimal numbers. We played an interactive game on the smartboard which helped up practice how to order decimal numbers for the smallest value to the largest value. We also learned about the value of the numbers before the decimal point and the value of the numbers after the decimal point. Some of us made a poster to show our understanding of place value and decimals.

Hope you all enjoy the holiday!

By P5b and Miss McClements

From the Blog Post Box:

Something fun I did this week was….

…..my class talk.         Cameron

……P.E when I played Hockey.     Luca

…….going back to knitting club.     Fiona

…….drama because we used ‘shancompancom’.   Robin

…….learning about decimals.       Noah

Pupil of the Week-Katie

Context for learning

This week we were comparing Victorian toys to the toys we play with today. We identified what materials they were made of, who used them and if it was a toy that used skill, imagination or exercise. We decided that Victorian toys are initially fun to play but we could easily get bored of them after a while. We also realised that most Victorian toys were handmade or made from wood. Whereas, a lot of the toys we play with today are made of plastic and are electronic. We realise how lucky we are because we have such a wide variety of choice compared to what Victorian children had.

Literacy

This week we prepared some open-ended questions to ask underage chimney sweeps. We wanted to know what it was like to work in the chimneys. We then used these questions to interview the chimney sweeps. We used the hot seating drama convention to do this. Luca, Fiona and Casey acted as Jeff, Vic and Courtney and told us what is was like to work in the chimneys.

They told us:

‘I got stuck up the chimney once and it took me hours to squeeze myself out.’

‘I do not get paid. I only get some bread and milk when I have my daily break.’

‘I need to work in the chimneys because I need to help feed my family.’

‘I am 10 and I have been working as a chimney sweep since I was 6.’

We are now going to include this information in our newspaper articles on underage chimney sweeps.

By P5b and Miss McClements

From the Blog Post Box:

Something new I learned this week was…

…that when you divide Tens and Ones you start with the Tens. When adding, subtracting and multiplying you start with the Ones!                  Steven

…what N/A means and that you can use it when completing a survey.                   Casey

…how to divide with remainders.                              Gary

…that they didn’t have any plastic toys in Victorian times.                            Archie

…the 12 times table.        Emma

Pupil of the Week: Murray

Article 28

You have the right to a good quality education.

All present and correct first thing in the morning.

Oh Skye – how dare you write with your left hand during our handwriting lesson!

An object study on the potato – not finding it too exciting Luca?

At least we were allowed to break for lunch – bread, cheese, apple and cake. Mmmm, not bad!

We enjoyed our Victorian school experience but aren’t sure we’d like to do it every day. Mrs McClafferty, is that a laptop I see?!

From the Blog Post Box:

I wouldn’t like to be a Victorian child because…

…it was boring.                   Cameron

…schoolchildren got hit by the cane or belt and had to wear the dunce’s hat.            Jack

…you had to work long hours if you were poor.                 Jordan

…you would look stupid in front of your friends if you had to wear the dunce’s hat.               Katie

…you wouldn’t have any electronics.                Noah

Pupil of the Week: Mark

P5b Poetry Winner: Casey

Article 28

You have the right to a good quality education.